Wayne Phillips was the 8th of 13 children. His father was a rancher but was found hanged in the barn in 1917. There had been some threats to the family. A short while before the hanging, someone had fired a shot through their bedroom window. Ella had moved the bed that day and the shot only hit the wall. Daniel had told Wayne to never admit he was Jewish. Wayne was 14. His mother Ella was left with 13 children to raise. They were poor. Wayne wore his sisters hand-me-downs until he was 12. He even had to cut the heels off their shoes. He had little schooling but became a bookeeper. He married Willie Corinne Haynie 21 April 1928. She had one daughter, Margarite Christene Taylor. Christene had been living with Dora Wilson until she was 3.